The European Council is the EU institution that defines the general political direction and priorities of the European Union. It consists of the heads of state or government of the member states, together with its President and the President of the Commission.

The Council of the EU is the institution representing the member states' governments. Also known informally as the EU Council, it is where national ministers from each EU country meet to adopt laws and coordinate policies.

Code of Conduct Group (Business Taxation)

The Code of Conduct Group (Business Taxation) was set up by Ecofin on 9 March 1998. It mainly deals with assessing the tax measures which fall within the scope of the code of conduct (adopted in December 1997) for business taxation and overseeing the provision of information on those measures.

The code of conduct is not a legally binding instrument but its adoption requires the commitment of member states to:

abolish existing tax measures that constitute harmful tax competition

refrain from introducing new ones in the future

The group mainly works on:

anti-abuse rules

transparency and exchange of information in the area of transfer pricing

administrative practices

promotion of the principles of the code of conduct in non-EU countries

An Anti Abuse Subgroup was created under the Irish Presidency of the Council in 2013. It reports to the Code of Conduct Group and works on hybrid mismatches.

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The General Secretariat of the Council is a body of staff responsible for assisting the European Council and the Council of the EU. It helps organise and ensure the coherence of the Council's work and the implementation of its 18-month programme.